Thank you for your interest in the New Mexico Humanities Now! Summer Academy 2025. This opportunity offers a transfer pathway for students from CNM, UNM branch campuses (Gallup, Taos, or Valencia) to main campus, or other two-year institutions.
*Please note: Summer Academy students transferring from outside of UNM must apply and be accepted to UNM for Summer 2025 by May 10, 2025. If you applied for Fall 2025, please contact the UNM Office of Admissions: https://admissions.unm.edu/future-students/transfer/index.html to change from Fall to Summer.
Additionally, all Summer Academy students are required to attend an orientation on either May 9th or May 27th, 2025. You must have a UNM NetID to register for this event. First, complete the application process for UNM. When you receive your acceptance letter listing your student ID number, create a UNM NetID. Then use the link below to register for orientation.
Please register here for student orientation using your UNM NetID:
https://nso.unm.edu/incoming-students/transfer-orientation/transfer-orientation-dates.html
Please contact UNM Admissions at unmlobos@unm.edu or the New Student Orientation office for additional help at nso@unm.edu.
WHAT IS SUMMER ACADEMY?:
A rich, supportive learning environment where students develop critical thinking and research skills for academic success in the Humanities.
During Summer Academy students take 6 credits of upper division (300-level or higher) humanities courses, taught by UNM faculty. With grades of "C" or better, the credit hours may be applied to both the AA degree at CNM and the BA degree at UNM. In addition, students are eligible for a stipend of $2500 per class upon completion of the courses. Lastly, students will have access to graduate student mentors in the humanities for guidance - academic or professional - for the duration of Summer Academy, perhaps longer if you choose.
The Mellon Summer Academy is funded by the Mellon Foundation through UNM's NM Humanities NOW! Transfer Initiatives https://extendingnmhn.unm.edu/
WHAT COURSES ARE OFFERED IN SUMMER ACADEMY 2025?:
1) Intro to Southwest Film Studies June 9, 2023-June 27, 2025
This course focuses on films as a medium for exploring the place we call the “American Southwest.” Long before it was marked in the American imagination as integral to an American sense and as a beacon of light and liberty to the rest of the world, the Southwest was a site rich and diverse placemaking of Indigenous peoples who lived in this region and imagined their own senses of place. Through film, we will explore the histories and cultures that project notions of place and belonging in the Southwest. Topics explored in the course include narrative mapmaking, stories of origins and creations, the histories of trades and alliances, patterns of conquest and resistance, and building relation-making, among others.
Instructors: Irene Vasquez, Ph.D. & Jennifer Denetdale, Ph.D.
Crosslist: TBA
2) Testimonies of Social Justice July 7, 2025-July 25, 2025
This course explores how individuals and communities impacted by colonialism and social injustice have mobilized oral tradition, testimonies, and storytelling to bring balance, healing, and transformation. Students will analyze how discourses have empowered minorities representing oppression, identity, resilience, and agency and their positive impact on social exchange and reform. During this class, students will examine testimonies, autobiographies, poetry, monuments, and films that give voice to minorities’ social problems, such as race, gender, colonialism, and other forms of marginalization. We will focus on oral tradition, testimonies, and storytelling from the Southwest, from Native cultures, and from Latin America and Spain, which are Professor Rodriguez’s and Hernández’s areas of expertise.
Instructors: Ana Gabriela Hernández-González, Ph.D. & Maia Rodriguez, Ph.D.
Crosslist: TBA
BENEFITS OF SUMMER ACADEMY:
- 6 credits of upper division courses (300-level or higher) to apply to CNM AA degree and UNM BA degree
- Courses paid for by the grant
- $2500 stipend per class upon completion
- GA mentorship and support
- Developing reading, research, and study skills for higher level major courses
- Establish relationships with UNM faculty and other campus and community humanities professionals
ELIGIBILITY:
NMHN! Summer Academy is for students who are:
1) Transferring from a two-year institution to UNM main campus,
2) Accepted to University of New Mexico (as degree-seeking, highly recommended for financial aid purposes) and
3) Majoring or minoring in a Humanities subject at UNM
Eligible UNM Majors or Minors Departments:
Africana Studies, American Studies, Chicana and Chicano Studies, English, Latin American Studies, Spanish and Portuguese, Languages, Cultures, and Literatures, Philosophy, History, Native American Studies, Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies.
TRANSFER TRACKS:
NM Humanities Now recognizes that students interested in the Summer Academy may be at various stages in their transfer journey. You are welcome to apply if you are about to transfer or if you have already transferred.
For additional information about NM Humanities Now, Mellon Summer Academy, or questions regarding eligibility and application, please contact our Program Coordinator Dante Olivas danteolivas@unm.edu.
Visit our UNM Website
https://extendingnmhn.unm.edu/summer-academy.html
Visit our CNM Website
https://www.cnm.edu/programs-of-study/liberal-arts/new-mexico-humanities-now
NM Humanities Now! Mellon Summer Academy is supported by: CNM, UNM, and the Mellon Foundation.
